The Editor of the City Record and Boston News-Letter on a West End Tenement Fire Escape, c. 1990

Now that the weather is apparently improving (as if it could get worse) the time is right to announce that I will begin leading Boston history and architecture walking tours soon. I've given hundreds of walking tours of Boston, and the walking tours will include Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, South End, North End, Dorchester--almost any neighborhood in Boston. I also do a walking tour for children through Beacon Hill based on the classic children's book Make Way for Ducklings--I have led hundreds of school children on this tour during the spring. Tours are generally 1.5 hours long, and the cost is $10 in advance for adults, $12 day of the tour. Children aged 6 and up are $5, under 6 are free. I am still working out a schedule, but in general tours will be an evening or two during the week, and on Saturdays. With sufficient notice and numbers other times can be worked out and custom tours are also possible. If you are interested, please email me. More information and a walking tour website will be coming soon. We won't be going up on any fire escapes (the building I'm in front of has since been torn down) but you will get my knowledge of Boston's architecture and history for the price of movie and some good exercise to boot. I hope you will join me.

The Boston Stone, likely in the 1890s. (image copyright The City Record and Boston News-Letter, not to be reproduced without permission)

Today's Boston Globe has an article about historic pub crawls in Boston being led by the Freedom Trail Foundation, an organization which does good work in promoting Boston's history. What caught my eye was the following: "The last stop on the tour was the Point, a fairly modern-looking bar near the North End. Owners of the bar claim that the Boston Stone, the alleged center of the city, is inside the tavern. Although some historians argue that the real stone is actually down the street from the bar, the Point's Boston Stone is in its bathroom, right next to the toilet."

First, let me state that I haven't been to the Point, nor to its bathroom to see the stone. Despite not having inspected said stone, I can say that the owner's claim is fanciful at best. The true Boston Stone is in Marshall Street, affixed in the foundation of a building. As the illustration from the Library of Congress shows (and note that the advertising sign present in the photo is in the LOC engraving), it was used as an advertising ploy.
Here is a portion of the text, which was published in the 1860s: "When I was a boy, in passing the building, I saw a lad named Joe Whiting, whose father occupied the shop, writing on the Stone these words--'Boston Stone, Marshall Lane.' After I became a man," continues Dr. Elliot, "I asked Mr. Whiting, who set the boy at work on the Stone. He said 'Marshal Lane at that time not being named, it was difficult to designate his place of business. A Scotchman who opened a shop for the sale of Ale and Cheese directly opposite, made a complaint of the difficulty. He said, in London there was a large Stone at a certain corner, marked London Stone, which served as a direction to all places near it, and if I would let Joe write the words Boston Stone on this, people would notice it, and it would set them guessing what it meant, and would become a good landmark.'"(1)

It is important to note that the Boston Stone was never considered the "center of the city," having been put in place in the 1730s. The town market and statehouse would have been considered the center of the town, with the site of the Old Statehouse serving as the measuring point even after the construction of the new Statehouse on Beacon Hill in the 1790s. One can still see the colonial era mile markers in locations around Boston, indicating the distance to the Old Statehouse. I'm also not certain of the above claim that "Marshal Lane at that time not being named". As the 1896 Annual report of the Street Laying-Out Department states:

Attention visitors arriving via Google: we've changed our categories, which means that some of the Google links will take you to pages that no longer have the information you seek. This should all sort itself out as the new pages get spidered by Google. Thank you for your patience. If you don't need the information immediately, bookmark this site and come back in a few days.

I have been making some changes to the configuration of the City Record and Boston News-Letter in anticipation of more frequent posting. I've cut down on the number of categories and added a little more information to the sidebar. I'm also designing a new masthead.

Bostonia has been kind enough to direct his readers to The City Record and Boston News-Letter in the quest for information on Boston's first Front Street, although I made my original comment here in response to another blog's observation about Boston's lack of a Front Street. Confused? Just another day on the web, with so many people talking amongst themselves it can sometimes be hard to just drop in on the conversation.

Boston has had two Front Streets. The first Front Street was in the North End along the water, and dates to the earliest days of the town. It was renamed by the early 18th century, and was in the area of present day North Street. The second Front Street. the subject of the post I responded to, ran along the waters of South Bay (follow the Fort Point Channel inland) in the 1800s and was quite content being known as Front Street until William Henry Harrison caught pneumonia and died within weeks of being inaugurated President in 1841. Front Street was renamed in his honor a few weeks after his death.

From the Annual Report of the Street Laying Out Department for the Year 1894:

Snow Hill Street,
Boston; from Prince Street to Charter Street; from Prince Street to the
end of Ferry-way by Hudson's Point, 1708; called Snow Street in 1722,
1732, 1738; from Charlestown Bridge up to the burying-ground on Copp's
Hill, 1800; from Prince Street across Copp's Hill to Charter Street,
1817; laid out between Hull Street and Charter Street, April 10, 1837.

Notes: The Annual Report of the Street Laying Out Department also mentions Snow Hill,
Boston; at the northern extremity of the town; later called Copp's
Hill. So Snow Hill did get its name from being one of the most likely
spots in Boston to be snowy. Our forebearers were very practical in
that respect and future entries will look at streets which bear names
related to topographical features no longer extant.